Light Darkness
by White Crescent
Summary: A look into what Ultimecia was before the game and what drove her to do what she did. Chapter 2 up! R
1. the girl

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Disclaimer: I _really_ don't own Final Fantasy VIII, or Squaresoft. *sigh* 

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Author's Notes: How long has it been since I last wrote a fanfic? Anyway, this is a fanfic about Ultimecia - basically - and her life 'before' the events of the game. Nothing really fancy or anything like that - just my take on this underdeveloped character. This is actually a rewrite of a fanfic I didn't quite finish ages ago (actually three years ago). I intend to finish it now though – somehow. 

Oh well – this chapter didn't quite come out as nicely as I would like it to. I'm just not that good of a writer… Reviews are more than welcome so drop one!

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Light/Darkness

***

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"They say… time is endless…"

The woman took a small, almost hesitant, step forward. She looked over her shoulder and regarded the mass of people gathered at the entrance of her palace with a blank look. Tonight was the beginning…

..and the end.

She looked away from the crowd and continued walking forward. Her steps were light, almost careful, as she made her way up the carpeted stairs and them down the aisle that lead to her throne. She was followed by a small group of young women - her devote followers - dressed in robes that resembled hers, though theirs were obviously not as grand. 

"They say… man was not meant to live longer than they can remember…"

The woman took her place, sitting herself quietly in her throne. She looked like a queen with her golden eyes, silvery-gray hair and ageless face as she sat on her throne, watching her people, her followers with the air of a goddess. 

She was a goddess indeed, or so she would like people to think.

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"Memories are beautiful… but they fade… because they're beautiful… and beautiful things have to fade.."

There was a time when she knew why and for what she was there. There was a time when she knew why she said the things she said. 

But no more.

An old man, whose name she no longer remembered, walked down the aisle and fell on his knees before her. He spoke in a trembling voice:

"It is done.. m'lady, your majesty." 

__

"It is done."

The woman nodded slowly and opened her mouth to speak. Her voice was clear and crisp.

"Let us then kompress time…..," she said out loud, "Let us.."

***

Chapter One: The Girl

***

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….For the first time in many, many years, she opened her mouth and used her voice. It was not for a joyous laughter, or an uplifting speech she opened her mouth once again, but for a cry; a sharp cry with anger, pain and hatred in it.

Blood stained her dress as she took the lifeless body in her arms. She held it close and then knew for the first time in years what she wanted to do….

***

"Where……am….I?" the girl asked, slowly, as she came to. She lay on the cold earth, her long blonde hair in spilled over her shoulders, and clothed with nothing but a simple, old faded-gray dress. She sat up and looked around her curiously. The sky was orange with hints of blue and violet. She watched as, slowly, the orange in the sky faded, replaced by dark blue. 

Night had fallen.

Stars began to appear, as if from their from their hiding places. The temperature dropped and with the sudden cold she realized she was alone. Something told her she shouldn't fear, however. It was like a voice at the back of her mind, and she wondered.

"Why?" she asked quietly before walking forward - to where, she didn't know.

How long she walked, barefooted, she didn't know. She just walked and walked, not experiencing hunger or tire at all. That made her wonder too, and perhaps fear - if only a bit. But it didn't matter, yet. She stopped when she spotted a road in front of her – a stretch of black that didn't quite fit with the dull brown of the earth.

She heard a question then, at the back of her mind - 'Who am I?' a voice asked.

Truth be told, she didn't know. She hung her head and stared blankly at the brown earth beneath her feet, her blue eyes wide. "Who am I?" she asked herself in a soft whisper. 

'Who am I?'

Before her mind could fully process the question, she was filled with an unknown and yet familiar sensation. The question was forgotten, if only for a while. Something behind her and her mind screamed for her to turn around. 

She followed without question and was overcome with something she could not quite explain when she did. 

A dragon-like creature, with red scales and wide, leathery wings was now in front of her - for how long it had been watching her, or even following her, she didn't know. It gave loud, sharp cry that would have made any other girl scream with fear, but not her. 

She stared at the creature's hungry eyes defiantly. Fearlessly. 

No, she did not fear – not at all.

It raised one of its claws, intending to end her life with one swift move, but as It sent it crashing down it was stopped by something just mere inches above her head. 

The wind blew, howling in her ears. 

She took a step forward and innocently placed her small hands on the creature's body. She closed her eyes and whispered the words in her mind out loud. 

Her hands itched, her blood burned.

When she opened her eyes, she looked up to the star-filled sky before a sharp, hot feeling ran through her veins and seemed to escape through her hands. She cried out and fell back, not with pain but with the power.. the release…

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Magick.

A crystal of ice formed from beneath the dragon-like creature and pierced through its scales, its flesh, and its heart, killing it almost instantly. It gave one sharp cry, filled with pain and anger, before falling on the ground, dead. 

She stared at the creature for a few moments before staring at her own hands. She had done this with her hands, her own two hands, and they were still warm. 

She had killed it with magick - her magick.

She looked up to sky, to the stars and closed her eyes, feeling the cold wind as it brushed against her cheeks. How had she done it? What was she? Who was she? Why was she able to do that? The stars and the wind seemed to remind her, but nothing would come. 

Nothing.

"Who am I?" she asked, her voice trembling. The wind blew, but it held no answer. She hung her head and stared at the cold earth before falling on her knees. "Where am I?" she asked again, and once again nobody answered.

She cried.

***


	2. old friends

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Disclaimer: Once again; I do not own Squaresoft, or Final Fantasy VIII. 

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Author's Note: As I write this, I admit, I feel so terribly ashamed of myself. Nevermind a short, not-so-well-written fanfic – but a long, seven-paged behemoth of a not-so-well-written fanfic? I didn't realize rewriting this thing was _hard_. This thing took me _days_ to finish… *sighs* I tried to stick to the original and even recycled some lines here and there, but honestly, it's just not as 'good' as the original one, when it comes to how real the characters feel. But oh well, this will have to do for now since it's gotten so big. I admit, I ended up changing Fasett's weapon into a gunblade instead of an axe because, right now, I couldn't really imagine him using an axe anymore and it fit… 

But oh well – drop in a review? 

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B. Braswell – _*sweatdrops* I'll fix that k thing sometime.. and I can write long chapters… take a look at this one… *whistles*_

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Natalie – _And more for you – eh, sorry, no angst here.. yet… Nat, you wait some more :-p_

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anime-diva – _thanks ^^;;_

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Lady Aliena – _lol. Yup! It's nice to get rid of your writer's block! XD Oh and I'm replaying FF8 too – wee! I don't think I have what it takes to make Ulti that way anymore… *sighs* But I'll try… now if I can get this right…._

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Light/Darkness  
  


Chapter Two: Old Friends

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….The sorceress sat back on her throne, watching the massive chandelier at the center of the room idly. She could vaguely remember her companion's voice ringing in her ears.

"What were your friends like, m'lady?" her companion had asked and when she did not reply her companion added, "I'm sure even you had friends.. you still have.." 

She closed her eyes and whispered, "They were good."

***

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"Wake up.. hey.. kid.. wake up….," a voice called, reaching out to the girl from within the darkness and pulling her into consciousness. The girl woke from her sleep but she did not open her eyes yet. Instead, she lay there curiously feeling her surroundings. She no longer felt the cold, hard earth beneath her small body and she was wearing something considerably softer. Faintly, she could hear the steady humming of something, perhaps, just above her. 

"Uh…she's not waking up.. a little help here, Gelene?" the voice who had called her said suddenly. 

She was not alone.

"Hmph…. considering _how_ you've been sounding for the past few minutes.. you probably frightened the girl of—" another voice said. This one, however, sounded a tad bit more irritated and feminine. 

"Yeah.. yeah.. whatever. Gelene, spare me the words of wisdom and do the waking up thing for me…" the other voice interrupted. It was followed by a sigh – obviously coming from the owner of the second voice.

"Well… girl," the second voice began and a few seconds later she felt something soft and warm on her forehead. It reminded her of something she had felt before, but could not remember.

"…Wake up – rise and shine, girl!" 

The girl opened her eyes softly and the first thing she saw was the face of a blonde, brown-eyed, young woman just several inches above her head. The young woman was smiling at her. "Good Morning," the young woman greeted.

The girl gave the young woman a weak smile before sitting up and looking around her with wide, curious eyes. She was no longer out in the open or alone in the middle of nowhere for that matter. Instead, she was in a small bedroom with two people, one of them being the young woman who had greeted her earlier. The other was a young man and right at that moment he was leaning against one of the desks, watching them impassively. She was no longer wearing the old clothes she was the night before, instead, she was wearing a red pajama, several sizes too big for her.

"See, Serek, a little bit of gentleness here and there helps, you know," the young woman said, grinning, before hopping off the bed. She had long blonde hair, kept in a single, tight braid. 

The young man snorted, "Gelene, you just don't know how hard it is for us…" Serek, as the young woman had called him, had short, jet black hair and soft green eyes. He was clad in a uniform that resembled the one the young woman was wearing. 

Pocketing his hands, he walked towards the bed and sat himself. "So kid, what's your name?" he asked the girl.

The girl stared at Serek for a few moments, before frowning and hanging her head. 

"I…I don't know….," she replied meekly. The young woman, Gelene, arched an eyebrow. 

"What do you mean you don't know…?" Gelene inquired, sitting herself on the bed once more this time right beside Serek. 

"Did you really need to ask that? She doesn't know.. then.. she doesn't know," Serek answered before turning to the girl, "Right?"

"Ow, shush, I just asked maybe she—" 

Serek immediately cut her off, "Gelene, she doesn't know her name then how do you expect her to know _why_ she doesn't know her name…" 

Gelene folded her arms and gave Serek a look which he mimicked as a form of insult. 

Gelene rolled her eyes, "Well, Mr. Smartass, let's see _you_ do it then." Serek winked at her and grinning impishly, he turned to the girl.

"Heh, okay…tell me what yo—" 

"Errm," Gelene interrupted before elbowing Serek. He shook his head before sighing and clearing his throat. "Okay," he began again, "Do you remember anything? What do you know?" 

"Well…," the girl began, thinking back, "I remember waking up… somewhere I do not know…. and then… walking and walking…. " she trailed away and then heaved a sigh. "I..I do not remember anything…. before that.."

"Hmm… that's something.." Serek muttered, "So.. you really.. don't know anything else? Do you?" 

"No…" The girl shook her head and looked down. 

"Well.. we'll help you remember then.! Uh…" She stopped suddenly and turned to Serek with a troubled look, "Serek.. how exactly are we going to help her if we don't know what to call her? We.. eh.. can't exactly keep or calling her 'kid' or 'hey'…"

Serek stared at her for a few moments before nodding wordlessly. The girl, meanwhile, watched them curiously. 

"You're right…." Serek said suddenly, "We gotta give her a temporary name or something.. that is uh.. until we know her real name.."

The girl blinked several times before asking innocently, "Why do you have to give me a name? Do you know me….?" 

Gelene broke into laughter, "Well, simple as this: You wouldn't really want us to call you 'kid' or 'hey' or refer to you as… 'the girl' always, do you?" Gelene purposely said 'the girl' with a _lot_ of emphasis. 

The girl shook her head slowly.

"Gel's right, you need a name. Side's it's gonna help us help you better – no pun intended whatsoever." Serek added. "Uh, let's see.. what name's nice..?"

"Uh… Serek, shouldn't we be asking _her_ what name she would like?" Gelene reminded.

"Uh right.. so kid –er I mean, what would you lik.." Serek stopped, noticing the confused look on the girl's face. "I mean, she probably doesn't even _know_ any names, Gel…." 

"Eh… I guess you're right…" Gelene muttered. 

"So, how about… Michelle.." Gelene glared at Serek, "I mean, no, Micaela?" 

"Mi-ca-e-la" The girl muttered, carefully pronouncing the name in her mouth. "Mi-ca-e-la…" she repeated again.

"What do you think? Or do you want someth—" Gelene asked. 

"No..I.. I like it…" The girl said softly, this time a small smile was forming on her lips. "Mi-ca-e-la….So.. does that mean I will be called 'Micaela' from now on…?"

"Sort of –" Gelene replied and Serek continued for her: "No, you'll just be called that until we find out your real identity."

Gelene nodded "Well, let's see.. Micaela – you really don't remember anything do you? Other than, of course, waking up and _not_ remembering anything…"

Micaela shook her head sadly, "Sorry… I really do not remember anything…"

"Well…I wonde---" 

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Beep

Gelene jumped, literally. "Ahh! We're gonna be late.. we're gonna be late! Serek! Serek!" She grabbed Serek by his arm and began dragging him away. "Field Exam – Serek, we've _gotta_ go _now!_" 

Micaela blinked and watched as Serek stared at Gelene, mouth hanging slightly open. "You've gotta be kidding me – we're not leaving he—" 

"Micaela we have to leave you here for a while, okay?" Gelene cut-off, pulling Serek away from the bed.

"No way, Gel. Not lea—"

"Serek, I'm dragging you out of here before _you_ regret it," Gelene told Serek sternly before turning to Micaela. By this time, the two of them were at the doorway. Serek sighed.

"Micaela, girl, we're going to be gone for a few hours or so, okay?" Gelene called out once the two of them were out of the room, "There's food in the fridge outside here. Don't wander out too far – this place is _huge_ and you'll just have to trust me on that, 'kay?"

Micaela, sitting quietly on the bed and still quite confused, nodded quietly.

"Good – now Serek… let's _run_!" 

There was a swoosh, followed by several beeps, and then she was alone. 

Micaela padded towards the peculiar looking object, a small rectangular box, on the desk, right beside the window, and began running her small hands over it, wondering what it was. Almost by accident, her small fingers pressed onto a button, well hidden on its surface. She jumped in surprise when a bright blue and white panel with the words 'Esthar Garden' on it popped right in front of her face.

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Esthar

She pressed a palm onto the panel, and marveled at how small her hand was compared to the panel. 

***

"Tridine?" A tall man in his mid-thirties called out, searching for someone in the small group of students lined up in front of him. "Tridine?" He called out once more before heaving a sigh and shaking his head. 

"I guess you're going to be late this time…" he muttered to himself quietly as a panel appeared in front of him.

"I'M HERE…I'M.. NOT..LATE…." The man tilted his head to his side, and surely enough, there was Serek running towards him, a familiar blonde on tow. 

"I'm.. not.. late yet.. Instructor Rimeas," Serek said breathlessly after stopping right beside the Instructor. Moments later, Gelene was at his side.

"Serek, catch your breath and fall in line." The instructor told him and gestured with his head towards the group in front of him. Serek nodded and after having caught his breath, marched quietly into the group and fell in line.

"I'm.. not late too, Instructor." Gelene stated. Rimeas nodded and gestured with his hand towards the group. "Fall in, Gelene."

Gelene nodded and marched towards her position, but not after throwing a glare at Serek's direction.

"Well," Rimeas began, "Is that all for our class? What about Melk Gewen and Domena Herdeen?" 

One of the students answered for him, "They're in the infirmary, sir." 

"I see, so we're down to six..?" Rimeas trailed away and watched his class silently for a few moments before nodding to himself and displaying another panel in front of him. "Well, let's start with the grouping. You'll be grouped in three squads; Squad A, B, and C. Originally, there should be four squads, but with _our_ class down to six, that just isn't possible."

"Instructor, is it true we'll be having our field exam with the candidates from Class 8A?" one of the female students, Etna, blurted out suddenly. A few other students nodded vigorously, asking if it was true. 

Rimeas shook his head, aware of the certain obsession some of his students had for Class 8A, "Yes, that is true. In fact, they'll be arriving any moment now for the grouping." He watched as Etna and another female student began giggling before adding sarcastically, "And I'll no doubt be the Instructor in charge of this field exam."

"Instructor Rimeas – my class is here," someone said suddenly and Rimeas tilted his head to see a tall blonde woman, clad in the usual SeeD uniform. 

"Ah, Instructor Jen, you're finally here – I guess I'll announce the grouping now." He took a glance of the group behind Jen before asking, "No absentees for your class?"

Jen shook her head and sauntered down to his side, signaling for his class to take their place beside the other class. "No," she replied with a smile. 

"Good, let's see. For Squad A, we have Dern Faquilas, Fasett Dragara, Pelomina Tashnina, Jeran Jedel, Serek Gren Tridine and Gelene Madilae; Dern will be the squad leader for that one….For Squad B…"

Serek turned to his side, regarding his team members from the other class with a slight frown. "Well, at least we have Dern for squad leader…. _that_ can't be bad….." 

***

"…..Dreysad, a town located near the Great Grandidi Forest. The authorities there called for _more_ SeeD assistance at exactly 4:00 hours this morning. Basically, there's been a huge influx of monsters there and whether it is because of a faulty MR, it is not confirmed, yet. Your job will be to annihilate the monsters _inside _the town, _within_ your designated areas, and, if possible, confirm the cause of it all; whether it is by natural phenomenon or simply a faulty MR. Lastly, should any of you manage to discern what the cause is, you will inform us. Squad A will be assigned to the town square. Squad B on the other hand will be assigned to this main road and Squad C will be assigned to that main road.

"Don't worry too much, as usual we have SeeDs to finish this mission if you fail. That's it for the mission briefing. Good Luck to you all."

***

The journey from Garden to Dreysad had taken an hour and a half. At that time, they were briefed and told of what monsters to expect in that area, as well as other facts about the town itself. Looking back, Serek wondered how he had survived being on the same vehicle, for more than an hour, with Fasett and Jeran. 

'I guess, that doesn't matter now..' he thought quietly as he walked over to a corpse and began pulling out his shurikens. Quietly, he wiped the purple goo off them with a cloth, and slipped them into the tiny pockets on his sleeve. He looked around and regarded the piles of monster corpse with disgust. At least, with no more monsters coming from all directions, it seemed to be the end of their mission.

"Hey, Serek…" He spun around to see Gelene running up to him.

"Eh?" 

"You think this is the end? I mean, either someone figured out what's wrong or we just simply killed all there is to kill of them…" 

"I guess so…" Serek trailed away and he found himself watching a very, very irritated Fasett, leaning against the wall, running his gloved fingers dangerously on the tip of his gunblade. 

"Serek! How long do you think are we going to be waiting….?!" Gelene yelled.

"Forever." The most unlikely person replied grimly, his voice laced with sarcasm. Fasett ran a hand through his raven black hair and sauntered towards them. "Oi, Serek, you bored?" Fasett threw his gunblade in the air and caught it deftly, "I know I am. Feh! What on earth happened to the so-called 'hard' field exam anyway!?" 

"What's wrong with you?" Serek snapped, a frown creasing his features. Fasett was known for these outbursts, sometimes ego-trips, and he knew many who admired and hated him for that. Right then, he wished Fasett would just shut up and give him space to think. It wasn't like Fasett knew him anyway.

"Fasett, aren't you glad we don't have to fight any more of those monsters?", said Dern who was quietly leaning at one corner, Pelomina beside him. Dern, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of Fasett – the one who often times came out as the leader in their class – Dern was both famous and invisible at the same time. He just didn't stick out like Fasett did and Serek actually looked up to the guy, to some extent.

Serek found it mildly amusing to see Dern in action.

"Feh, Dern. It's so much better than standing here around waiting for orders." Fasett snorted, "The monsters are dead – and it looks like everyone's done too… can any of you hear anything anymore?" 

Serek started, but stopped and realized Fasett had a point – a very valid point at that. The sounds of gunfire, the cries, the howls, growls, shriek – they were gone and in its place was a dead silence. 

"Something's… wrong." Serek announced, walking over to a nearby pile of corpse. He stared at it for a few moments before turning to Dern and asking : "Dern, shouldn't we check it out?"

"I'm afraid we can't." Dern said firmly, "Our orders were to exterminate all monsters _within_ our designated areas, going against that…." The redhead trailed away and folded his arms, "We just can't." he finished, finally.

Serek shook his head. "It's because this is a field exam, right?" He sighed, "We have to follow orders down to the last letter, get graded for doing so and pass….." 

'Is that all that matters anymore?' he wondered as he watched the red-haired leader. What if their lives were in danger? People's lives?

"What if… _our_ lives, if not anyone else's lives, are in _danger_?" Serek found himself asking no one in particular. 

"Serek's right, what if lives are at stake here.. somehow…!" Gelene added, regarding Dern with a slight frown.

Everyone was silent, except for Fasett who was watching it all, chuckling. 

"This is probably part of the exam itself." Dern suggested quietly and watched as everyone else nodded slowly.

"Y'know, Dern's got a good point…" 

"He's right…"

"Hey, Serek's got a point there." Fasett said suddenly, his voice silencing everyone else. "I don't really think our lives are at stake here, but maybe the others' are. Besides, something _is_ wrong and I'm getting tired of waiting out here anyway."

Fasett walked over to Serek's side and gave him a pat on his back. "Besides, it looks like he's _willing_ to take responsibility if all this is just... nothing. Don't worry, I'll make sure to tell him that, Dern." He said, grinning at Dern. 

Dern arched an eyebrow and thought for a few moments before nodding slowly – almost hesitantly. "I guess you have a point Fasett. Let's g—"

He was cut off abruptly by a sharp animalistic roar and when he spun around he almost fell back when a large, lion-like creature leapt above him. It landed with a thud just a few meters away from here, and it snarled at them, showing them its many sharp teeth.

"Okay… I guess we didn't need to move out…" Serek heard Fasett say behind him. He took a step backward and readied his shurikens and sai. Beside him, Gelene was talking, though he could not understand what she was saying at all.

Dern readied his spear and gave simple, vocal orders to fight the creature, whatever it was. It seemed like a mutated version of a chimera, without the two other heads, with dragon-like wings, instead of eagle-like ones, and blood-red skin that gleamed in the noonday sun.

"Serek – toss in some shurikens!" Dern said suddenly.

"What?!" 

"…I said toss in some shurikens… its skin.." Dern paused as he flipped backwards in an attempt to avoid a claw swipe from the creature, "We need to know if it's what I think it is…"

Serek nodded but just as he was about to toss in a few shurikens he was stopped when he felt something hot at his left side. He turned just in time to see a ball fire headed towards the creature and it evaporating into gas after hitting some sort of barrier the creature had wrapped around it.

"Magic… not effective?" he heard somebody say as he took a step forward and tossed several shurikens. He watched as the shurikens hurtled towards the creature and grinned when they dug themselves deeply into the creature's flesh.

"Bingo – it's vulnerable to physical attacks!" Dern cried out as he launched himself forward, his spear ready to pierce through the creature's flesh.

He was just about to toss another round of shurikens the creature when a voice cried in his head.

'_Who's there?'_

He stopped then and stepped back, catching a glimpse of the sky as he did so. Instead of the bright blue summer sky, there was a sky clouded with a hazy green mist. He shook his head and reminded himself he was in a middle of a fight. The fight, he remembered, was challenging. 

He felt _alive._

He rushed forward and regarded Gelene, who had wrapped her whip around the creature's neck and was aiming to strangle it to death, with a smirk before tossing several shurikens aimed at the creature's throat. He hit and the creature shrieked and began trashing around wildly.

__

'Who's there?'

Serek stopped for a moment, but shook his head, ignoring the voice completely. 

Dern rushed forward and leapt onto the creature, before digging his spear into its torso and effectively pinning it down the ground. Then, Fasett moved, digging his gunblade effectively into the creature's throat and slicing downwards almost easily until it stopped moving.

"It's dead…" Fasett muttered, pulling out his gunblade and giving Dern a thumb's up. 

"That wasn't bad…" Dern said, jumping off the back of the creature. He flicked the excess blood off his spear before turning to Serek, "I think I know what you're thinking."

Serek nodded immediately, "Let's go. I have a bad feeling about this." 

Gelene nodded and turned to the rest of the students that made up the squad. "Why don't we separate? Three of us go that way—" Gelene pointed to the east, where the road where Squad B was assigned lay, "and three of us go that way—" she then pointed at the road going down to the west, the one Squad C was assigned to. It was the road that led to the town gate.

Dern nodded. "I have a feeling something's up there—" he said, regarding the latter of the two roads. 

"Dern, Jeran and I will take the other road then, the rest of you go that way." Pelomina suggested. 

"That's fine with you?"

"We can take care of ourselves." Pelomina said and nodded her head at Jeran's direction, motioning or him to follow, before walking away.

"So it's settled then." Serek said quietly as he watched the two of them walk away. He then turned to the ones he was left with and regarded them with a look of determination.

"Yup, it's settled, Serek – Dern, you sure about this by the way? I'd hate to see Mina getting hurt or somethin'." Fasett grinned and Dern nodded quietly. "It's just a feeling," he said quietly, before hanging his head and looking away.

Serek watched them quizzically, not entirely sure what was happening. 

"You know…" Gelene said suddenly, prompting Serek to turn to her direction. "The sky sure looks green…"

"I know." Serek mumbled as he looked up. 

***

Micaela stared at the panel and the things written on it curiously. "Garden Festival, Students' Corner, Tutorial, Guardian Forces, Esthar Tribune" None of it made sense at all, at least, to her. 

She shook her head and searched for the button she had pressed earlier on with her fingers. It wasn't long until she found it and with a sigh she pressed on it softly. With a faint beep, the panel above it disappeared, and the room became darker, if only a little.

She looked outside the window and noticed how orange the skies were. The sky was like when she woke a day ago – burning red and orange. She blinked several times, turned around and stared at the bed before plopping onto it and grabbing the nearest pillow.

Hugging it tightly, she tried hard to remember anything at all.

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Esthar.

The word popped out in her mind so suddenly and then she just knew it was where she was. She stared outside the window and watched as the sun set.

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"We'll escape…….to that place…. Esthar…safe……"

Her eyes widened.

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"..she's there… with your mother… let's go! Faster… Faster…"

She sat up and began looking around her frantically.

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"Run! Run!………Run!……Ru—"

There was a sharp pain at the back of her head and she let out a sharp, but suppressed, cry. She covered her eyes and her breathing became ragged. Other than the voices, she couldn't remember anything more, but it hurt. 

"No.." she whispered softly and closed her eyes.

"If… only.. I could.. remember…"

***


End file.
